Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 5:2 (New Living Translation)

“Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”

In many English translations, like this one, the Old Testament phrase “the Lord” is a translation of sorts of the Hebrew name YHWH, pronounced Yah-way. The English word often used here is Jehovah.

Pharaoh, here arguing with Moses, makes a clear statement of truth. He didn’t know Jehovah; he had never heard of Jehovah. Pharaoh knew many gods by name and attribute. The Egyptians had many gods with one of the better-known to us today being Ra the god of the sun. Later in Exodus, Jehovah shows that he has power over Ra the god of the sun by blocking the sun and plunging Egypt into day-time darkness.

In the Christian world of today, we assume that “being religious” means being Christian. That is not the definition of the word. There are many people today who are religious and spiritual in that they believe there are powers present that go beyond explanation by the natural sciences. These super-natural forces are at work in their lives. Some of these people acknowledge the existence of Jehovah, but rank Jehovah somewhere in the middle of the list of known gods.

Other people today are like Pharaoh of Egypt: they have never heard of this god named Jehovah.